Cougars overcome SMU, advance to American Championship match

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Published 6:40 pm, Friday, April 17, 2015

An early deficit was no problem for the No. 29 University of Houston tennis team as the Cougars rallied to beat No. 73 SMU, 4-1, on Friday afternoon in the semifinals of the 2015 American Athletic Conference Championship. Houston advances to Saturday’s Championship Match with the win, where they will face off with No. 71 Tulsa, the tournament’s host institution.

The win was Houston’s 18th in a row, building on a program record, but it did not come easy. The top-seeded Cougars (22-4) lost the doubles point to fourth-seeded SMU (16-7) and at one point trailed in the first set on five of six singles courts.

“SMU is a very talented team, and they took it to us at the beginning of the match in both doubles and the start of singles,” said Houston Head Coach Patrick Sullivan. “But our team has character; we know what to do in that moment and we have the rarest quality in a team. When things get hot, we play our best.”

The Mustangs nearly captured the doubles point in the regular season meeting between the teams, and they finished the job on Friday. Macie Elliot and Mary Wright won court three, 6-1, over Angela Lorenzo and Mina Markovic, but the Cougars came back on the second court with Rocio Martin and Tina Rupert doubling up Hristina Dishkova and Holly Verner, 6-3.

The top court was a back-and-forth affair, with both teams leading at different moments. Houston’s team of Elena Kordolaimi and Despoina Vogasari was the first to earn a match point, but SMU’s Vaszilisza Bulgakova and Dasha Sharapova fought it off and came back to win, 7-5.

SMU claimed early leads on five of six singles courts, but Houston gradually clawed back in each flight. The teams each won the first set on three courts, which favored SMU as the Mustangs already held a 1-0 lead. The closest court was the third, where Sharapova won a tiebreak over Rupert.

However, the tide turned in Houston’s favor as soon as SMU grabbed the lead on court three. Just minutes later, No. 110 Kordolaimi tied the match by completing a straight sets win over Anna Kate Anderson on court two, 6-2, 6-2.

On court six, Lorenzo was dominant from the outset, and it wasn’t long before she pushed Houston ahead. The freshmen won her eighth straight match, 6-3, 6-2, turning away Verner and giving the Cougars a 2-1 lead.

As Lorenzo was clearing the court, Martin struck another blow for Houston. The junior took down Yana Erkeeva on court four, 6-2, 6-3, putting the Cougars just one win away from victory.

The Cougars needed a rally on at least one court to secure a fourth point. Markovic was up to the challenge, rebounding from a first set loss to Bulgakova to outlast her opponent. The freshman clinched the 4-1 victory with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 triumph in the fifth flight.

The remaining two courts were halted after Houston earned the fourth point, though No. 77 Vogasari on the top court and Rupert on the third had both won their second sets.

Kordolaimi’s win was her 50th dual victory as a Cougar. She is just the ninth UH student-athlete to accomplish the feat. The senior also recorded her 23rd dual win of the season on Friday, which is the third-best single-season tally in Houston history and just one behind Kathy Foxworth, who won a school-record 24 dual matches in 1986 and 1987.

Lorenzo’s eight-match winning streak gives her an 18-2 overall record, while fellow freshman Markovic is 14-6. Martin improved to 16-10, with a 9-2 record at the fourth spot.

The win is the fourth this season for Houston when losing the doubles point. The Cougars have rebounded from a 1-0 deficit three times during their 18-match winning streak.